This is a story about my little man.
Jayden Dareen Manikiza
17.02.08 – 05.03.08 Age 17 days old.

My name is Tanya Cadd, I had wanted a baby for ages I used to always go to the doctors for pregnancy tests and what did they say… Its negative. I will never forget the 18th of august 2007 I went to the doctors to have a pregnancy test and finally they said it was positive I couldn’t stop smiling I was ecstatic… I’m finally pregnant I thought something id always wanted, I had regular scans and doctors appointments everything was fine until one day I went for a scan and Jayden’s heart rate was going up to 500 beats per minute when it was meant to be at 120-160 max. This was way too high so I was sent to the john radcliffe hospital in oxford. I was started on a drug called digoxin to try to slow Jayden’s heart rate down, I kept traveling to oxford every two days for roughly two weeks. nothing was getting better
and Jayden was not moving much in my belly so on Friday the 15th of February I was kept in oxford and monitored in the heart ward… Sunday the 17th of February came, still in hospital I was due a scan. This revealed the worse… jaydens heart had not slowed down at all and he was getting a bit tired and stressed. so they said they would have to deliver him.

SO HAPPY TO BE A MUM…
on Sunday the 17th of February 2008 two days before my 18th birthday they delivered my 1st child. what a great early birthday present ay! he was gorgeous brown hair, a big smile, long fingers and toes so cute, everything you could ever ask for I had, he weighed 3lbs 10 1/2 OZ. and 43cm long. quite big for a gestational age of 28
weeks and 4 days. He was perfect! Jayden was taken to the Neonatal intensive care unit and after I was taken back to the ward I was given a photo and told I would be allowed to see him when the feeling of my legs came back, seeing my new born baby properly for the first time being able to touch him through the incubator doors was fantastic I was so happy.

The next morning came and we were transferred to Northampton general hospital… As I live in northampton we were taken in separate ambulances but when I arrived I went straight to see Jayden in the special intensive care baby unit. over the next week things were going really well they managed to settle his heart rate down with drugs it had the odd few minutes where it would go up to like 240b.p.m but was not major, Jayden was taken off the ventilator and his food amounts were increasing the only thing wrong was he had diarrhea and this was checked for infection and they said it came back fine… I was so happy to know my little man was doing so well I even got
to dress him as he was coming off most of his lines. I will never forget the 1st day I dressed him he looked so cute in his little blue suit.

EVERYTHING WAS PERRRRRFECT UNTILL…
On the 4th of march I rang the hospital and double checked it was ok to go and visit Jayden they said sure that’s fine, at 4.30pm I arrived and I was greeted by a nurse she took me into a room and said Jayden was not doing so well and that there were doctors in the room trying to stabilize him so I could not go in… I waited what seemed like hours for them to get him stabilized and then when I seen him he looked so pale and lifeless, his belly was bloated and he was also back on the ventilator and had a lot of lines back in him I asked what was going on and that is when they explained to me that Jayden had developed N.E.C I had never heard of it before and was not aware of it. In northampton they did not have any surgeons that could operate and deal with N.E.C so they were trying to stabilize Jayden so we could
transfer him to oxford, London or leiester hospital where they could operate but before they done that they would have to get Jayden stabilized and fit for
transfer… over the next few hours things got worse. Jaydens belly was getting more swollen and he was needing more oxygen, later that night Jayden was fighting for his life and I can remember whispering to him please Jayden come on his heart kept stopping and starting and I remember looking and the monitor and it said 0. I was heart broken I just started crying my eyes out that night was and is and will always be the worst day of my life I just wish I could of stayed in oxford hospital and maybe my little angel would still be here. Jayden fell asleep at 2.20am on the 5th march he was only 17days old. There was so many things I was going to do with my baby. When we meet again we will do those things. if anybody would like to contact me regarding N.E.C please email me at lil-princess-double-oh-7@hotmail.co.uk

I would just like to say I think there should be more care taken in s.c.b.u in
hospitals with infections and there should be regular x.rays and tests taken then maybe just maybe it wouldn’t have been to late. Also I think every hospital should have at least one surgeon who’s specialized in different problems.

Jayden we will always love you, you are my 1st baby and always will be I will
never feel the same for you as I do anybody else you’re my special little man and all the memories I have of you I will cherish for the rest of my life and I cant thank you enough for making me a mummy. Love you son X

THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME SHARE MY STORY AND I AM SORRY TO ANYBODY WHO HAS LOST THEIR CHILD TO N.E.C I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL WE HAVE TO BE STRONG AND REMEMBER OUR BABIES WILL ALWAYS BE WATCHING OVER US AND WILL ALWAYS BE OUR LITTLE BABIES XXX